Midcoast Design Recordstated the honors are “a powerful statement to the great design talent in Kansas City, and the Midwest, when almost one-fifth of the award-winning design projects are within a 5-mile radius of each other. And it is especially exciting when one of those projects is being designed and built by students—it shows that the next wave of designers emerging from the Midwest will continue to push boundaries and keep bringing exceptional design to our region.”

Continuing with the “best of” awards, The Architects Newspaper’s2017 Best of Design Awards received over 800 applications in 42 categories from “every corner of the country.” Three projects were identified in the Student Work Category. Of the three projects, el dorado and Design+Make Studio took two. The Preston Outdoor Education Station won the category and the Waldo Duplex received honorable mention. The jury said about the Midwest that, “it is refreshing to see such good architecture being realized in the Midwest, and it says something about the state of architecture nationwide.”

We’re also particularly proud that our collaboration with Modus Studio on the University of Arkansas Art and Design Facility was named AIA Kansas City 2017 Project of the Year. The jury comprised of Bruce Anderson, Anne Schopf, and David Miller remarked that, “it stood out as an elegant, simple, beautiful project,” and that it “is a very honest, very strong rehab of an existing structure in a way that respects what it was but re-invents it in the end” and finally, “it is extraordinary in its simplicity. All of the moves of the designers are right on.”

This year, el dorado was also recognized as the 16th highest rated design firm in 2017 Architect 50: Top 50 Firms in Design. It’s a great list, and is a wonderful recognition of powerful work produced in the Midwest and particularly by our Kansas City colleagues at BNIM and Helix Architecture + Design, who also made the Top 50 in Design.

We are honored to be acknowledged through these awards for great architecture and design realized internationally. Additionally, we are thrilled to keep Kansas City and our region at the leading edge of dialogues surrounding exceptional design—our core belief is that design excellence is possible anywhere, for anyone.

And we’re looking ahead—2018 is already proving to be another year of great projects, partners, and possibilities.